Chapter Summaries

Ruan Chengde pursued the High Priest into the giant tower to recover the Ruan Family’s stolen Human Salvation Zither, sacrificing his life to awaken it. The zither escaped the Ancestral God’s planet and flew back toward the Ruan Family, where Meng Qi and the others recognized it.

• He Qi, Old Master Ruan, and the Wang Family Head tried to stop the giant tower from escaping, but it carried the High Priest and Ruan Chengde into Azure Nether.
• Ruan Chengde fought the dying High Priest inside the tower, determined to atone for his past mistake and reclaim the Human Salvation Zither.
• The tower crashed on a water-covered planet, where Ruan Chengde found the Human Salvation Zither enshrined beneath the Ancestral God’s statue.
• Countless Blue Blood People attacked Ruan Chengde as he fought his way toward the zither, and he spent his life force to awaken it with his blood.
• The awakened Human Salvation Zither broke free and flew back to Langya City, where Ruan Yaoguang recognized it and Meng Qi wondered how it had returned.

After the Human Salvation Zither appeared near Langya, Ruan Bogao and several powerful rivals fought over it while the Ruan Family struggled to keep other opportunists at bay. Just as the Blue Blood People threatened to seize the zither, Meng Qi arrived and overwhelmed them with his saber.

• Old Master Ruan returned to Langya with the Wang Family Head, hoping to find Sanlang and recover the Human Salvation Zither.
• The Human Salvation Zither appeared near the Ruan residence, and Ruan Bogao fought Nine-Finger Blue Blood while helping the zither resist its foreign aura.
• Fengdian Divine Envoy and the Gambling Abstinence Monk joined the battle, sending the zither away from Langya as other experts moved to seize it.
• A Blue Blood leader threatened the gathered experts, prompting Wang Siyuan to draw his sword and the Ruan Family's Peak Experts to prepare to fight.
• Meng Qi struck the Blue Blood leader with his saber and used thunder to defeat the remaining Blue Blood Exterior Scenery experts.

Meng Qi defeated the Blue Blood People with his saber and Great Sun Transformation, then tried to return the Human Salvation Zither to the Ruan family. As Heretical Path magnates and Wang Siyuan arrived to contest it, Meng Qi agreed to race them and revealed a pitch-black hand bone.

• The last Blue Blood Peak Expert transformed into Formless Sword Gu and infiltrated Meng Qi, but Meng Qi’s Great Sun Transformation evaporated the Gu and killed him.
• Meng Qi collected a dark-blue Gu worm and pushed the Human Salvation Zither toward the Ruan family’s Ancestral Residence.
• Dozens of Outer Scenery experts rushed to seize the zither, but Ruan family experts blocked many of them with their music.
• Linghu Tao attacked Meng Qi, and True Lord Stubborn Stone arrived as the two Heretical Path magnates demanded that Meng Qi get out of the way.
• Wang Siyuan appeared beside Meng Qi and proposed that each of them take on one opponent and see who finished first.
• Meng Qi accepted the challenge and silently took out the Yellow Springs Hand Bone.

Meng Qi used his unfinished Grandly Bury the Star River and the Yellow Springs Hand Bone to drive Linghu Tao into retreat, while Wang Siyuan frightened True Lord Stubborn Stone away from the Human Salvation Zither. As Gao Qianyuan and Fengdian Divine Envoy made their moves for the zither, Meng Qi brought out a cracked black flag.

• Wang Siyuan dodged True Lord Stubborn Stone's crushing fists after recognizing the hand bone in Meng Qi's possession.
• Meng Qi struck Linghu Tao with Grandly Bury the Star River, then wounded him with Heaven's Wound and the Yellow Springs Hand Bone.
• Linghu Tao severed injured arms and fled rather than face Meng Qi's final attack.
• Wang Siyuan repeatedly attacked True Lord Stubborn Stone, whose confusion drove him to abandon his attempt to seize the Human Salvation Zither and flee.
• Gao Qianyuan used a strange talisman to attack Ruan Bogao, while Fengdian Divine Envoy unleashed the Blood God Bead toward Gambling Abstinence Monk and the zither.
• Meng Qi expanded his body and produced a cracked black flag as Fengdian's Blood Shadow swept toward the Human Salvation Zither.

Meng Qi and Wang Siyuan helped the Ruan Family recover the Human Salvation Zither after Meng Qi wielded the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner against their enemies. The zither awakened with help from Ruan Yushu’s music, and Meng Qi later accepted the Ancestral God’s residual aura and a promise of the Ruan Family’s aid before meeting Ruan Yushu at Langhuan Pavilion.

• Meng Qi used the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner to overwhelm the Fengdian Divine Envoy’s blood shadows, while Wang Siyuan’s abacus token knocked the Human Salvation Zither away and suppressed its aura.
• Gao Qianyuan attacked Meng Qi and rushed for the Human Salvation Zither, but Ruan Bogao interfered as the zither began to awaken.
• Ruan Yushu’s music resonated with the Human Salvation Zither, which cast off the Ancestral God’s aura and drove Gao Qianyuan and the Fengdian Divine Envoy to flee.
• Meng Qi showed the damaged banner to discourage others from coveting it, and the Human Salvation Zither returned to Ruan Bogao.
• Old Master Ruan gave Meng Qi the expelled Ancestral God’s aura and promised the Ruan Family would help him; Meng Qi then visited Ruan Yushu, who served him her treasured dishes.

Meng Qi shared a meal with Ruan Yushu, who discussed preparing zither pieces to support his future journey to the Nine Villages World. The next day, Wang Siyuan warned Meng Qi about his tangled entanglements and the danger of false inheritances, then revealed that helping Meng Qi break out of the game would also help himself.

• Ruan Yushu shared her treasured dishes and pastries with Meng Qi, and they ate together.
• Ruan Yushu asked where Meng Qi planned to go, and he implied he was preparing for the dangerous Nine Villages World journey.
• Ruan Yushu said she would master several zither scores to help Meng Qi, while Meng Qi considered introducing his companions to Immortal Trace.
• Meng Qi visited Wang Siyuan, who praised his fight against the Six Extremes True Demon and compared his situation to famous teas ruined by mixing them together.
• Wang Siyuan warned Meng Qi to distinguish his entanglements and said only the Overlord's Absolute Saber could yield the true 'All Things of the Past, Vanishing Like Smoke and Dispersing Like Clouds.'
• Wang Siyuan said helping Meng Qi break out of the game would help himself, and his fallen Go piece scattered the board into a new pattern containing a spark of life.

Meng Qi repaired the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner with the Water Ancestor’s residual aura, then returned to Nine Villages World to gather information about the True Martial Suspicious Tomb. He arrived at Jushen Manor on He Canshang and Huangfu Fei’s wedding day, where his arrival as Daoist Qingyuan sent the couple and their old companions hurrying to meet him.

• Meng Qi visited Immortal Trace, learned that Qu Jiuniang had not seen Lingbao Tianzun, and left a message for him.
• Meng Qi used the Water Ancestor’s residual aura and a Water Blue Stone to repair the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner, restoring its full-power uses to two.
• Meng Qi chose to return to Nine Villages World and appeared near Huangfu Fei at the rebuilt Jushen Manor.
• A gatekeeper told Meng Qi that He Canshang and Huangfu Fei were celebrating their wedding and that He Canshang had become an Outer Scenery Expert.
• When the gatekeeper reported that Daoist Qingyuan was waiting outside, Huangfu Fei and He Canshang rushed out to greet him, while Madam Huangfu and Daoist Wuliang recognized his name.

Meng Qi reunited with Eldest Miss Huangfu and He Canshang at their wedding, then set out to confront the evil ghost in the True Martial Emperor's mausoleum. He revealed the danger to the gathered experts and destroyed the Outer Scenery zombies with a devastating saber strike, leaving Mr. Wash Moon shaken and injured by fear.

• Eldest Miss Huangfu and He Canshang welcomed Meng Qi at their wedding and learned that he intended to return to the mausoleum.
• He Canshang guided Meng Qi to the mountain range, where experts from beyond were waiting as the mausoleum appeared amid black fog.
• Meng Qi identified the mausoleum as the True Martial Emperor's tomb and explained that its evil ghost possessed intruders and corrupted their techniques.
• Meng Qi warned the gathered experts to keep their distance, then unleashed a vast sea of lightning that destroyed the Outer Scenery zombies and cleared the black fog.
• Mr. Wash Moon recognized that Meng Qi had seen through his hidden real body, then suffered heart pain and a backache after Meng Qi's warning unsettled him.

Meng Qi entered the mausoleum protected by the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner and fought Huangfu Tao, freeing him from Zhenwu's evil influence. Zhenwu's evil thought then appeared and revealed that the ancient Thunder God had arrived after the Heavenly Court fell, leaving Meng Qi to question what happened to Zhenwu.

• The mausoleum's oppressive aura overwhelmed Mr. Wash Moon, and Old Immortal Plucking Stars caught him before he fell.
• Meng Qi entered the mausoleum and fought Huangfu Tao, then used the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner and the Primal Beginning Golden Lotus to restore Huangfu Tao's mind.
• Meng Qi sent Huangfu Tao out of the mausoleum, where He Canshang welcomed his master.
• Zhenwu's evil thought appeared before Meng Qi and said that Zhenwu the Great still would not let him go.
• Zhenwu's evil thought identified Meng Qi's saber technique as derived from the Nine Annihilations of the Divine Firmament and said the Thunder God came after the Heavenly Court fell.

Meng Qi questioned True Martial Emperor's evil thought about the Heavenly Court's fall, the Thunder God, and the search for a way to endure after death. The evil thought offered secret sites and treasures in exchange for help escaping, then attacked Meng Qi with the Heaven Severing Seven Swords.

• True Martial Emperor's evil thought told Meng Qi that the Ancient Thunder God had survived the Heavenly Court's fall and named the Three Pure Ones, Amitabha, the Holy Buddha, Bodhi, and the Demon Emperor as possible culprits.
• True Martial Emperor's evil thought explained that he and the Thunder God had suppressed the Yellow Springs at Worry-Free Valley while investigating life, death, and a way to endure after death.
• Meng Qi learned that True Martial Emperor might still be alive and that his evil thought refused to become a vessel for his return.
• True Martial Emperor's evil thought offered to reveal secret sites containing treasures and fragments of the Heaven Severing Seven Swords inheritance if Meng Qi helped him escape.
• True Martial Emperor's evil thought began to identify the old acquaintance who had erased him, then seized the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner and attacked Meng Qi with Slay Dao See Self.

Meng Qi fought the True Martial evil thought in the tomb, using Buddha’s Palm, the Dinghai Pearl, and his saber arts to resist its attacks and protect the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner. Although he used a clone to try to reclaim the banner, the enemy’s own clone thwarted him, and the chapter ended with Meng Qi badly wounded as the True Martial evil thought rushed for the weapon.

• The True Martial evil thought attacked Meng Qi with Slay Dao See Self, and Meng Qi countered with the spiritual form of Only I Am Supreme before being badly wounded.
• Meng Qi used his imprint to resist the True Martial evil thought’s attempt to seize the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner, then threw the Dinghai Pearl to suppress the banner and the enemy’s water-based powers.
• After recovering with an Eastern Extreme Longevity Pill, Meng Qi attacked with Grandly Bury the Star River and Open Heaven and Earth, forcing the True Martial evil thought to defend and then counter with Dao Extinction Dao Birth.
• Meng Qi sent his clone to reclaim the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner, but the True Martial evil thought’s clone intercepted it, and the two clones began fighting.
• The True Martial evil thought struck Meng Qi with Dao Extinction Dao Birth, leaving him bloodied and unable to maintain Dharma Heaven Manifestation Earth, then rushed toward the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner.

Meng Qi defeated the True Martial Evil Thought with the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner and learned of the next step in the quest, but the evil thought survived by possessing Mr. Wash Moon. Meng Qi caught up with Mr. Wash Moon before he could escape and confronted him, suspecting possession.

• Meng Qi trapped the True Martial Evil Thought with the Mountain and River Diagram, seized the Xuan Shui Demon Quelling Banner, and unleashed its tide to overwhelm the enemy.
• The Six Paths announced that the evil thought had been eliminated and directed Meng Qi to follow clues through the Yellow Springs Skeleton to find the True Martial Emperor's final whereabouts.
• The Demon-Quelling Heavenly Venerable appeared and revealed the locations of several Heaven Severing Seven Swords forms and hidden legacies.
• Outside the tomb, Mr. Wash Moon pretended to flee and revealed that the True Martial Evil Thought had possessed him to escape the Demon Quelling Banner.
• Meng Qi caught up with Mr. Wash Moon, confronted him about their old grudge, and noticed signs that he might be possessed by an evil spirit.

Meng Qi defeated and sealed the True Martial Emperor's evil thought, but Six Paths killed it before it could reveal ancient secrets. After returning to Biyou Palace, Meng Qi and Lingbao Tianzun questioned Great Green Root about a mysterious aura, then asked why Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun had moved only them from Kunlun Mountain into the seal.

• Meng Qi used the Three Treasures Ruyi Fist and Heaven's Wound to defeat Mr. Wash Moon, revealing and capturing the True Martial Emperor's evil thought.
• The True Martial Emperor's evil thought offered Meng Qi its insights into the Heaven Severing Seven Swords and ancient secrets, but Six Paths killed it when it began to reveal too much.
• Meng Qi returned to the Central Light Pillar with Mr. Wash Moon's storage pouch and warned Lingbao Tianzun that Six Paths might not be as reliable as he had believed.
• Lingbao Tianzun told Meng Qi that Great Green Root recognized the aura as belonging to someone who had once visited Jade Void Palace, though it could not identify the visitor.
• Great Green Root ruled out the Ancient Thunder God, Ananda, and other simulated auras, then said the visitor was neither one of the Three Pure Ones nor Amitabha Buddha.
• Meng Qi asked Great Green Root why Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun had moved only them from Kunlun Mountain into the seal, and Great Green Root fell silent.

Meng Qi and Lingbao Tianzun questioned Great Green Root about Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun, the seal, and the Nine Heavens Ruins, then discussed the Human Salvation Zither and the Six Paths. Meng Qi shared his lead on the Fifth Sword of Heaven Severing and learned more about Lingbao Tianzun’s Chain Quest and their entanglement in powerful beings’ karma before going to exchange for items.

• Great Green Root revealed that Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun had taken it to the seal after Jade Void Palace vanished, and that he had left a message saying he was going to the Nine Heavens Ruins.
• After Great Green Root left, Lingbao Tianzun and Meng Qi concluded it was still hiding important information and speculated that the seal might be connected to Jade Void Palace.
• Meng Qi told Lingbao Tianzun that the Human Salvation Zither was listed as missing, and they tested whether Great Green Root recognized the Blue Blood People's ancestral god’s aura.
• Meng Qi shared his lead on the Fifth Sword of Heaven Severing, and Lingbao Tianzun identified Ice Pole Lake as the Cao Clan's Earth Immortal Lake in Peijing and offered to cover him.
• Lingbao Tianzun said he was nearing the Earth Immortal realm and explained that his own karma came from the true Lingbao Tianzun, while Meng Qi's entanglements were more complex.
• Meng Qi discussed Lingbao Tianzun's unfinished Chain Quest and then went to the central jade pillar to exchange for items.

Meng Qi purchased the Heavenly Heart My Will Art and a Pharmacist Heart Pill, then reunited with Jiang Zhiwei and told her about Zhenwu’s malice and Six Paths. They set out to find the Fifth Sword of Heaven Severing, learned Qi Zhengyan was away, and searched Earth Immortal Lake, where Jiang agreed to join Immortal Trace; she ended by asking which available titles were skilled in swordsmanship.

• Meng Qi exchanged Mr. Wash Moon’s storage pouch for Merit Points, bought the Heavenly Heart My Will Art, and reserved a Pharmacist Heart Pill.
• Daoist Chong He accompanied Meng Qi to the Sword Washing Pavilion, where Meng Qi met Jiang Zhiwei and told her he had gotten rid of Zhenwu’s malice.
• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei went to the Flower Washing Sword Sect to find Qi Zhengyan, but the disciples said he had become an Outer Scenery expert and left on urgent business.
• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei searched Earth Immortal Lake for the Fifth Sword of Heaven Severing while disguised as visitors.
• Meng Qi explained Immortal Trace to Jiang Zhiwei, and she agreed to join because she trusted him.
• Jiang Zhiwei asked Meng Qi which remaining Immortal Trace titles were skilled in swordsmanship.

Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei traced True Martial Emperor’s hidden treasure to an icy forbidden ground beneath the Cao Clan’s territory, then sought Cao Xianzhi’s help to enter it. Cao Xianzhi agreed to ask his Family Head, while Batu suddenly collapsed and died near the city gate.

• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei chose Yuding Zhenren as Jiang Zhiwei’s title and searched the frozen lake for True Martial Emperor’s hidden treasure.
• Meng Qi saw Cao E open a secret entrance beneath the island’s ancient ice and concluded the treasure vault lay below it.
• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei consulted Lingbao Tianzun, who advised them not to reveal that the vault contained the Heaven Severing Seven Swords.
• Meng Qi asked Cao Xianzhi to help retrieve the treasure, but Cao Xianzhi said he would seek the Family Head’s permission and report back the next day.
• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei discussed other ways to enter the forbidden ground, then saw Batu hurry toward the city gate and collapse dead.

Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and Lingbao Tianzun devised a plan to use a staged attack as cover for infiltrating the Cao Family’s forbidden grounds and seeking its treasure vault. While observing the Cao Clan’s Ancestral Residence, they spotted Cao Tai secretly admitting two mysterious black-robed visitors.

• Batu suddenly collapsed in the street, and a bystander examining him discovered his chest and abdomen were empty of organs.
• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei suspected shamanic sorcery, returned to the inn, and told Lingbao Tianzun about the incident and the Wolf-Slaying Society.
• Meng Qi proposed using the treasure vault as bait to draw out Cao Family reinforcements while he infiltrated Earth Immortal Lake disguised as a trusted messenger.
• Lingbao Tianzun agreed to help, and the three refined their plan before Meng Qi began observing Cao Family experts for his disguises.
• While Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei watched the Cao Clan’s Ancestral Residence, Cao Tai secretly let two black-robed strangers through the western side gate.

Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei followed two Grasslands shamans from the Cao Family’s residence, but an unknown expert killed them before they could be captured. After Meng Qi arranged to meet Agula, Agula revealed that Saren Gowa, the Wolf King’s master and the true owner of the Wolf-Slaying Society, had returned and wanted Meng Qi dead.

• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei tracked two mysterious figures from the Cao Family’s residence to a courtyard in Linen Alley, where they discovered the figures were Grasslands shamans.
• Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei fought the shamans, but a concealed force made their bodies swell and explode before they could be captured.
• Lingbao Tianzun said an unfamiliar aura had distracted him, and Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei learned the merchant caravan’s other members knew nothing about the shamans.
• Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and Lingbao Tianzun discussed whether the Cao Family was cooperating with the Grasslands shamans and considered how the deaths might help them enter Earth Immortal Lake’s forbidden grounds.
• Meng Qi left contact marks around Peijing, and Agula came to his inn and revealed that Saren Gowa of the Bright Moon family was the Wolf King’s master and the true owner of the Wolf-Slaying Society.
• Agula told Meng Qi that Saren Gowa had returned after the Wolf King’s death and had been searching for Meng Qi because she wanted to kill him.

Meng Qi and his allies set a trap to draw the Cao Family’s attention while preparing to investigate its dealings with the Grasslands. Their scheme escalated into a coordinated assault on the Cao Family, and the chapter ended with Demon Master Han Guang and Mad King Gao Lan confronting the Family Head.

• Meng Qi learned from Agula that Batu had died after encountering Golden Tent shamans, and he and Jiang Zhiwei decided to use the Grasslands dealings as a false lead against the Cao Family.
• Cao Xianzhi told Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei that the Cao Family had found two sets of Earth Immortal Remains in Earth Immortal Lake.
• Lingbao Tianzun gave Meng Qi the Dusty Universe Banner and gave Jiang Zhiwei a formation diagram and an Obscuring Talisman for their planned operations.
• Jiang Zhiwei infiltrated Icefire Valley and attacked Cao Fei, who recognized her sword style and called for help as she trapped him with the formation diagram.
• A masked attacker used the Immortal Slaying Sword to disrupt the Peijing Grand Array, while a disguised figure posing as Cao Tai died at Earth Immortal Lake after warning of exposed Grasslands dealings and a Dharma Body attack.
• The Cao Family’s Family Head prepared to strike as Demon Master Han Guang and Mad King Gao Lan stood before him.

Cao Feiyue awakened the ice-crystal Earth Immortal Remains to aid the Cao Family as Meng Qi infiltrated their forbidden grounds and entered a sealed world beneath the Ice Soul Cold Milk. The chapter ends with the Purple Thunder Earth Immortal’s remains suddenly opening their eyes before Cao E.

• After learning Cao Tai had died and Peijing was under attack, Cao Feiyue activated the formation and awakened the ice-crystal Earth Immortal Remains.
• Chong He's clone ambushed Cao Feiyue as she left, but she repelled him; Meng Qi slipped through the ice gate in the form of a hair and concealed himself inside.
• At the Cao Family Ancestral Residence, Gao Lan and Han Guang discussed the danger of attacking the intruder, while Cao Xianzhi used the divine weapon and formation to withstand Lingbao Tianzun's assault.
• Meng Qi disguised himself as a Cao Family expert, reached the Ice Soul Cold Milk, and entered a sealed world containing ruined halls and an untouched central palace.
• As Cao E studied the Purple Thunder Earth Immortal's remains, they opened their eyes and lightning shot from them.